initial commit of ebook 24704HEADmain

1 files changed, 1034 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/24704.txt b/24704.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..63b2978
--- /dev/null
+++ b/24704.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,1034 @@
+Project Gutenberg's On the Vice of Novel Reading., by Young E. Allison
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: On the Vice of Novel Reading.
+       Being a brief in appeal, pointing out errors of the lower tribunal.
+
+Author: Young E. Allison
+
+Release Date: February 27, 2008 [EBook #24704]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE VICE OF NOVEL READING. ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, David Garcia and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Kentuckiana Digital Library)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Unpublished--
+Author's Private Copy.
+
+
+
+
+                    On the Vice of Novel-Reading.
+
+
+               _BEING A BRIEF IN APPEAL, POINTING OUT_
+
+                   _ERRORS OF THE LOWER TRIBUNAL._
+
+
+
+
+   _Paper Read Before the Western Association of Writers at Winona_
+
+                   _Park, Indiana, June 29, 1897._
+
+
+
+
+                         By YOUNG E. ALLISON.
+
+
+
+
+                           LOUISVILLE. KY.:
+
+                COURIER-JOURNAL JOB PRINTING COMPANY.
+
+                                1897.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+[Illustration: YOUNG E. ALLISON]
+
+ON THE VICE OF NOVEL READING.
+
+
+Ever since the Novel reached the stage of development where it was
+demonstrated to be the most ingenious vehicle yet designed for
+conveying the protean thought and fancy of man, there has stood in the
+judgment book of Public Opinion the decree that novel-reading was a
+vice. Of course, that judgment did not apply exclusively to the
+reading of novels. It was a sort of supplementary decree in which the
+name of this new invention was specifically added to the list of moral
+beguilements against which that judgment had anciently stood. Poetry,
+the Drama, even the virtuous History, had had their noses disjointed
+by this tribunal. But their great age and the familiarity of their
+presence had softened the decree in its enforcement. The Novel was a
+young offender in aspect (though he had the nature and inheritance of
+the other three), and was, besides, strong in masculinity and
+virility. A certain sympathy thus sprung up for the three quaint old
+ladies, as for old offenders whose persistence had won the wink of
+toleration. They actually achieved a certain factitious respectability
+in comparison with the fresher and more active dangers afforded by the
+Novel. But the Novel was simply a combination of all three, more
+flexible and adaptable. It, therefore, merely shares in the old
+judgment directed against everything in literature--and in all the
+arts--that displays the seductiveness of fancy or taste. The judgments
+of public opinion have been consistently in the line of distrusting
+and discrediting everything that appeared to be purely spiritual and
+intellectual, and that could not at once be organized into a political
+or religious institution or into a mechanical industry with the
+prospect of large sales and quick profits.
+
+Novel-reading is a vice, then, under this judgment, just as the
+reading of all fictions, fancies, inventions, and romances in all
+their forms, poetic, dramatic, and narrative. And if the reading is a
+vice the writing of them, in all common sense, can be no less than
+murder or arson. If it is a vice to devote time to the reading of
+novels it must be a crime to professionally pander to and profit by
+the vice. And if all this is true, what a wonderfully attractive
+corner that must be in Hades where are old Homer and the ever young
+Aristophanes, Sophocles and AEschylus, Dante, Virgil and Boccaccio,
+Shakespeare and Moliere, Goethe and Hugo, Balzac and Thackeray, Scott
+and Dumas, Dickens and that wonderful child of Bohemia, who lately lay
+down to rest on Vailima mountain. Think of all these marvelous eons of
+genius gathered together for their meet punishment! In one especially
+warm corner, perhaps, Lope Felix de Vega, the most incorrigible of
+all, slowly expiating upon some most ingeniously uncomfortable
+gridiron the 1,160 volumes of crime and vice that are to be set down
+against him in the indictment, if it be a true bill. We may wonder
+whether the unknown authors of "Esther" and "The Song of Songs" and
+the psychological novel of "Job" are there, too, where they properly
+belong. It must be a great congress with these chief criminals as the
+senators and a lower house made up of the most agreeably vicious souls
+of earth, who, in their sojourn here, yielded for a moment to siren
+voices. If everything in fiction--from the astonishing conspiracies
+overthrown by "Old Sleuth" to the magnificent visions that old John
+Milton saw, of incarnate ambition like a branded criminal driven out
+before the radiant hosts of heaven--if all the fiction that makes up
+the spirit of the novel is included in this _index expurgatorius_ of
+eternity, then we may well have a doubt, my friends, whether hell can
+hold us all.
+
+It is a curious exercise for persons immersed in writing and study as
+an occupation, and possessing a catholic tolerance for all
+occupations, to hark back to the time when they were still within the
+jurisdiction of the world that acts but does not study. In all the
+average towns, hamlets and country-sides of the world human nature
+beats with exactly the same pulse. If a change come, it comes slowly
+and it changes all together, so that all are still alike. In the small
+towns novel-reading has been considered about as contemptuously as
+playing the fiddle, though admitted to be less dangerous than family
+card-playing. It was estimated that a novel-reader was confirming his
+indolence, and in danger of coming to the poor-house; a fiddler was
+prophesied to get into jail for vagrancy or larceny; while a
+card-player had entered a path that might lead as far as the gallows
+and comprehend all the crimes. This opinion still largely exists in
+towns and country-sides. We find it maintaining itself even in large
+cities, among all sorts of very good people, even among the most
+exceptional men of business, of the professions and of the pulpits.
+Novel-reading, as a mental vice, according to this opinion, may be
+compared with opium-eating as a moral vice. It is thought to enervate
+and corrupt by means of a luxurious excitement, purely fictitious and
+temporary.
+
+At an annual meeting of members of the public library of a large city,
+the librarian read the aggregate number of calls for books of each
+class during the year. Let us assume that there were calls for 65,000
+works of fiction, 5,000 of history and biography, 2,000 of science and
+philosophy, and, say, 75 of theology. One of the trustees, who had
+pretentions as to responsibility for the public conscience that would
+have dwarfed the pyramid of Cheops, arose and appealed to the members
+to suggest a plan for counteracting the deplorable tendency of the
+times to the reading of fiction. It did not occur to anybody to
+recommend the abolition of the printing press, and so a discussion
+began. One of the most distinguished and scholarly ministers and
+educators of the world, who was a member, came to the rescue of the
+Novel. He said, in substance, that the large majority of the men and
+women in the world were laborers for the bread they ate, and it was
+his opinion that when such persons were resting after the day's toil,
+indulging their leisure, it was impossible to expect them to read
+works on theology and the abstruse sciences, while it was natural for
+them to seek amusement in novels and romances. He thought reading
+novels was much better than idle gossip, or loitering in saloons or in
+the streets. His remarks were received with great applause, and this
+declaration of his liberality of opinion was widely commented upon.
+
+But is there any real liberality in considering the reading of novels
+as only just a better use of one's leisure than gossiping, guzzling in
+saloons or wandering idly about the streets?
+
+The idea that novel-reading has no value except as a relaxation and
+amusement is born of the same dense and narrow ignorance which
+concludes that alcoholic drinks and wine serve no real purpose but to
+promote drunkenness and wife-beating; that opium promotes only
+luxurious debauchery, and that all the elegant, graceful and beautiful
+ceremonies and customs of society are invented merely to amuse and
+gratify the vain selfishness of the rich.
+
+The most curious aspect of novel-reading, considered as a vice, is
+that the great majority of those indulging in it, like those who
+indulge in drinking, gambling and other vices, are themselves willing
+to admit that it is indefensible if less perilous than other vices.
+They excuse it, just as the distinguished minister did, as an
+amusement so harmless, as compared with other vices, that you may
+indulge it and yet skirt hell-fire by a margin of a million miles.
+Some hypocrites conceal and deny the indulgence like your secret
+toper; others apologize for not indulging when they are in the company
+of notorious but pleasing offenders, as the hypocrite feigns
+benevolence. Every one of you doubtless has in mind the amiable man of
+business--maybe your tailor, your broker, your banker, your lawyer,
+your grocer--who cultivates your good opinion, and for the sake of the
+customer in you tolerates lightly the doubtfulness of your employment.
+He will even introduce the subject of books as a respectful and
+diplomatic concession to your heresies--much as all of us humor
+lunatics amiably and curiously, by broaching the subject of their
+delusions. He is tolerant because of fat success; his income is large,
+he spends it in a fine house, full of costly adornments, of which he
+has no knowledge except in the measure of cost and the correctness of
+their usage; he has equipages, and gives dinners and sits securely in
+Abraham's bosom of society. He pays you the deferential compliment of
+asking what books you are reading. It maybe you are just out of the
+profound philosophical complexities and pathetic problems of "Les
+Miserables." Perhaps you have immersed yourself again in the paradoxes
+of "Vanity Fair," or have been pumping up the flabby tires of your
+better nature with the fresh air of "David Copperfield." It is
+possible that "Tess of the Durbervilles," or "A Window in Thrums" has
+been newly received, and has been enlightening your mind and
+conscience as to your relations to the world about you. Whatever it
+has been, you suggest the fact.
+
+"It is a novel?" He replies doubtfully:
+
+"Certainly," you respond with enthusiasm. "A masterpiece."
+
+"Well," protests the amiable Philistine, "I have--so little time--for
+_amusing_ myself, you know. My daughter, now, she is a great
+novel-reader. She buys a great many novels. Last year I read a book
+called "The Greatness of Our Country." It is a wonderful book. It said
+in that book that the United States could support a population of
+400,000,000. I had no idea of that before. I asked Prof. So and So
+about it and he said why not: that China had 400,000,000 people. It is
+surprising what we learn from books," etc., etc., etc.
+
+This man has got one bald statistical suggestion in his head out of a
+book that is made to sell on trains. He recognizes it. It recalls
+dimly mathematics which he was taught at school. It is a concrete
+suggestion; it requires no effort to understand or remember. It is so
+wonderful to him that he has no time to amuse himself with the heart
+allegories and the practical questions of the condition of those
+possible 400,000,000 as revealed in "Les Miserables." His daughter
+will do that and he buys for her novels, bicycles, gloves and
+chocolates with equal fond readiness to humor what he considers whims
+pardonable in children.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The idea that novel-reading is a harmless and mere amusement expresses
+fully the judgment that it is a vice, an encourager of indolence.
+There may be two reasons for the judgment, one existing in the novel
+itself, the other in the tribunal. Let us first consider the nature of
+the tribunal.
+
+The supreme constituted authority--not only of affairs in this life
+but in the ordering of all the future existences that man has
+conceived--is Public Opinion. Public opinion is the decree of human
+nature determined in impenetrable secrecy, enforced with ceremonious
+and bewildering circumlocution. It is thus double-natured. The
+organized public opinion that we see, hear, feel and obey is the
+costumed officialism of human nature, through ages of custom charged
+with enforcing upon individuals the demands of the many. The other is
+that tacit and nearly always unconscious understanding among men and
+women, which binds them in mysterious cohesion through a belief in or
+a dread of something that they can not understand, because they can
+not feel it with their hands, control it with their strength or
+disturb it with their threats. The myriads of mankind in this secret
+tribunal are silent because they are ignorant of speech. They are dull
+of brain and low in nervous organization, so that perception with them
+is a cerebral agony and even feeling responds only to the shock of
+actual physical suffering. Organized public opinion, when compared
+with this unnameable and resistless silent force of human instinct is
+like a small body of the police in the presence of a vast sullen mob.
+If the mob is determined and throws capable leaders forward, the
+police either desert to the mob or disappear. If the mob does not
+understand itself and produces no leaders the police rule it. It is
+fair to speak of this tacit common instinct as ignorant, because the
+world always has been shared between Ignorance and his twin brother,
+Indolence. Knowledge is the rarest coin that circulates among men. No
+one can accumulate knowledge unless he possesses the broad catholicity
+of purpose to labor ceaselessly for truth, to accept it from
+whatsoever source it comes, in whatsoever guise, with whatsoever
+message it brings him, and to abide whatsoever results may follow. If
+he expects an angel and a devil comes, it is still the truth he is
+seeing, it is still knowledge he is gaining. The genius of
+knowledge-seeking was glorified in that obscure German chemist who,
+experimenting upon himself with a new solution into which a fatal
+wrong ingredient had entered, cried in the agony of death to his
+assistant: "Note my symptoms carefully and make an autopsy--I am sure
+it is a new poison we have liberated!" If the vast majority of men
+shrink from and evade irksome labor with their muscles--even though
+life and comfort depend upon it--a still vaster majority shirk the
+disciplined toil and tension of the mind, which, if it have real
+purpose, makes little of the only rewards that spur men to muscular
+labor.
+
+The men who have really thought and labored and struggled for the
+abstract jewel of truth, and to beautify and make happy the world we
+live in, are, to the masses of indolent, ignorant, selfish human
+beings that have swarmed through the ages, as parasites upon some huge
+animal. The mass of humanity, considered as a whole, separated from
+these restless and stinging parasites, observed through the
+perspective of history, tradition and science, resembles nothing so
+much as some monstrous dull-brained and gloomy animal, alternately
+dozing and raging through the centuries, now as if stupefied in its
+own bulk or then as if furious with the madness of brute power. In
+fact, though mankind have achieved the dignity of a history that fills
+the thoughtful with wonder, yet as a mass they are filled with as much
+violence, injustice, ruthlessness and selfishness as if it were but
+yesterday they had emerged from the primitive struggles with wild
+beasts, the tangled forests, the trackless mountains, and the pitiless
+elements, and yet stood flushed with savage exultation but dull with
+physical weariness. In that vast human bulk that sprawls over every
+continent, the primitive ferocity still exists, veiled perhaps under
+familiar livery and uniform, but untamed by centuries of training. It
+is this gloomy mass, saturated with superstitious cowardice, savage
+with the selfish instinct of greed, or dull with the languor of gorged
+and exhausted passion, that deliberates not in words or thought, but
+in some impenetrable free-masonry of instinct like that which beggars
+illustrate when they silently display their deformities and
+mutilations as the most eloquent appeals. This gloomy mass is at once
+the instigator and the instrument of mortal destiny. Individuals may
+escape for a time, but they must eventually fall or lift the mass to
+meet them.
+
+The most profound philosophers and most patient students know as
+little of this silent, gloomy human force as geographers know of the
+archipelagoes of the Antarctic. The philosopher begins with pure
+reason and expands it; the student delves into the records of other
+students; in unfathomable depths below both are the myriads who eat,
+drink, sleep and seek their prey as their primitive parents once did
+when they disputed carcasses with the beasts of the forests.
+
+It is this gloomy, savage force that has made the contemplative soul
+of spiritual inquiry writhe under the startling contradictions of
+history. When this force has been aroused with fear it has snarled and
+roared defiance; when it has been enraged by opposition or the lash of
+mastership it has cooled its ferocity in the blood of countless wars,
+pillages and sacrifices; when satiated or pleased it has grunted with
+pleasure or relaxed itself in orgies so gross and unspeakable that
+modern history, with instinctive decency, has kept the story of them
+veiled behind dead languages. This gloomy, savage force has always
+been the same whether mastered or mastering. When some daring and
+cunning genius of its own nature has cowed it, as the Alexanders,
+Caesars and Napoleons have done, it has marched out to slaughter and be
+slaughtered with a sullen pride in the daring that this mightier
+ferocity has put upon it. When it has mastered its Drusus, its
+Domitian, its Nero, its Vespasian and its Louis XVI, it has indulged
+in wanton excesses of rage and destruction until, spent with
+exhaustion, a new master has arisen to tie it up like a whipped dog.
+It was this gloomy and savage force that crowded into the greatest
+tribunal of all history, and yelled with discordant and frenzied rage
+into the very face of the noblest and gentlest incarnation of
+spiritual light that ever spent its brief moment on earth: "Crucify
+_Him_! Release unto us Barabbas, _the Thief_." It was this savage
+force, serving all masters with equal ferocious zeal, that Theodosius
+turned against the Serapion at Alexandria, in the name of
+Christianity, to blot out of existence the inestimable treasures of
+knowledge and literature that had been accumulated by centuries of
+labor.
+
+At all times this gloomy force has been more wantonly cruel than wild
+beasts. Man has been epigrammatically described as a reasoning animal,
+a laughing animal, a constructive animal and even as "an animal that
+gets drunk;" but the truest description is that he is the cruel and
+rapacious animal. The greatest student of the jungle, who has written
+of the beasts of the forest with the intuition of genius, has given us
+this formula:
+
+    "Now this is the Law of the Jungle--as old and as true as the sky,
+     And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall
+         break it must die:
+
+           *       *       *       *
+
+    "Ye may kill for yourselves and your mates and your cubs, as they need
+         and ye can,
+     But kill not for pleasure of killing, and seven times never kill man."
+
+You may spend the remainder of your life attacking that formula of
+animal nature if you please, but you will find it at last still truth.
+Man kills not only the beasts, but his own species for pleasure, or in
+sheer wantonness of cruelty. He loves killing as an exercise; he loves
+it as a spectacle; he loves it as the origin of his greatest emotion.
+When that there is merely a brutish criminal to be hanged, human
+beings crowd the converging roads to the spectacle as centuries ago
+they crowded to the Colosseum. And it is to be recorded to the credit
+of wild beasts that no traveler ever yet came upon a battlefield that
+they had strewn with the dead bodies of their own kind.
+
+Lest it be contended that this is a psychological portrait of the mass
+of mankind caricatured by bitter cynicism, let us examine the aspect
+of its physiology. The whole brain of an average Caucasian makes up
+fifty ounces of the 140 pounds weight of his body. There are thus 137
+pounds of fleshly necessity to three pounds of intellectual
+possibility--forty-six parts of heavy dough to one part of leaven. The
+difference in the brain weight of races, and which decides the
+question of intellectual superiority, is about two ounces. The
+difference in the brain weight of individuals of the same race,
+indicating mental superiority is about two ounces. Now as the brains
+of individuals of all races must in proportion be equally occupied
+with the execution of those functions which we call instinct and those
+acts that may be called merely automobile (since they are the results
+of training and constant imitation, and have utterly no relation to
+intellectuality or mental initiative), it may be fairly assumed that
+the spiritual essence of races and individuals exists in a little
+grayish pulp-like lump of brain weighing two ounces out of an average
+bodily weight of 140 pounds. In the mass of humanity, then, there is
+one part possible to flower into the noble perceptions of spiritual
+and intellectual life, to 1,120 parts of dull, uniform, automatic
+animalism.
+
+What chance has this solitary microbe of spiritual and intellectual
+light against the swarming bacteria of animalism? That single microbe
+is merely a possibility. It may be mutilated, it may be dwarfed, it
+may fail from weakness, it may be corrupted. It is discouraging to
+think how few have grown into strong life through all the perils of
+existence.
+
+Under these circumstances it is but natural that even the small
+proportion of mankind endowed with the divine possibilities conferred
+by two ounces of brain, should be contaminated with many of the
+corruptions from below. Of those who seem to be concerned with
+spiritual perceptions there is a vast number mere charlatans and
+pretenders who, like the ingenious Japanese, are content to make
+cunning imitations of the real things adapted to sell to the best
+advantage. They patter the formulas of religion, of science, of art
+and morals, and ostentatiously display themselves in the costume of
+intellectuality to flatter, cajole and mystify the gloomy ignorance of
+their fellows.
+
+This is the select officialism of the secret human nature, its
+recognized and authorized police--the constituted authorities of
+Public Opinion. It is among these that we should find the
+possibilities of development much increased. What do we find? That the
+solitary microbe merely begins its struggle here. It dare not destroy
+its swarming enemies since upon their continued existence its own life
+depends. It must regulate, control and direct them if it would live
+and develop, or with cowardly cunning compromise the struggle at the
+outset and become a servant where it seems to command. This is the
+first terrace-step of superiority peopled by those who can understand
+others above them and interpret to the mass below.
+
+The microbe that might have become glorious ounces of brain has been
+content to become merely a little wart of pulp which finds expression
+in skill and quickness and more of coveted leisure. There is the next
+higher terrace and another and another, until finally it becomes a
+pyramid, ever more fragile and symmetrical, the apex of which is a
+delicate spire, where the purest intellects are elevated to an ever
+increasing height in ever decreasing numbers, until in the dizzy
+altitude above the groveling base below they are wrapped little by
+little in the cold solitude of incarnate genius burning like suns with
+their own essence. It is so far up that the eyes deceive and men
+dispute who it is that stands at the top, but, whoever he may be, he
+has carried by the force of strength, determination and patient will
+the whole swarm of his evil bacteria with him. They swarm through
+every terrace below, increasing in force as the pyramid enlarges
+downward. It is the pyramidal bulk of human nature with its finest
+brain, true to anatomic principles, at the top. That radiance at the
+summit is the delight and the aspiration of all below. As it rises as
+slowly as growth of a coral reef it increases the courage of those
+below in proportion as they are near.
+
+But the whole bulk is alive with the bacteria of animalism, under
+increasing control as it rises, still with the ferocity, rapacity and
+selfish passions of the gloomy mass at the bottom and forever in
+revolt. Is this not proved by history, written and unwritten? Is it
+not proved by the ghastly secrets of individual introspection that men
+never reveal or admit to others; secrets guarded by a system of
+conventions so impenetrable and vast that to attempt to personalize it
+in the sneaking figure of Hypocrisy would be as absurd as to try to
+enlarge the significance of an ivory chessman by setting it up on a
+lady's jewel box and naming it Moloch. All men feel how much of them
+is brute and how much is reason; but it is the unimpartable secret of
+human society whose betrayal has been rendered impossible by universal
+denials in advance, enacted in to what we call criminal laws, under
+which admissions are denied by the brand of proportionate infamies, to
+demonstrate that the traitor who has acted or spoken has not put into
+expression the secrets of the mass. Great armies and constabularies
+are kept to commit upon a large scale the murders and violence which,
+when committed upon a small scale, they punish.
+
+What is the record of the officialism of public opinion? There has
+been nothing so abhorrent and cruel, so sordid, mean, frivolous,
+indecent or insane, that the representative fashion and respectability
+of some splendid civilization has not justified, approved and
+sustained it. It has licensed every wanton passion of the body. It has
+even indulged, contemptuously at times, those individuals inspired
+through the mysterious selection of immortal genius to safeguard the
+slender flame of spiritual light and life. But those indulged have
+always been made to feel that they were secure only as long as their
+performances excited jaded appetites as a novelty. If dwarfs and
+monstrosities staled; if dancing girls palled; if gladiators wearied;
+if there were no new games invented--then bring in a poet or
+artist--some queer fellow who had discovered something that he called
+truth or beauty, and let him amuse. But if he does not amuse, or if he
+wear out his welcome, away with him. In the history of our own
+civilization, as our ideals go, there was one divine incarnation of
+spiritual and intellectual life that struggled through the tears,
+blood and dirt of existence without one stain upon the purity of his
+nature. This essence was a beacon light that has shone steadily
+through nearly two thousand years. And Him the officialism of human
+nature, in exaltation of savage contempt, nailed upon a cross, and set
+up for an ominous warning to the whole world. It had already marked
+the noble Socrates, and, like Cleopatra to her slave, handed him a cup
+of poison. It was afterward to compel Gallileo to swallow in shame and
+agony his testimony to unalterable truth. Even in this year, under the
+title of a great church, it has, with pitiless persistence, forced a
+great student and educator, not to deny a historical fact that he had
+discovered, but to humbly regret its promulgation. As if the
+concealment of a truth for your advantage in moral controversy were
+not a greater crime than the concealment of a murderer for pay!
+Whenever this officialism has concluded to amuse itself with spiritual
+inquiries in the name of religious controversies, it has conducted
+them with fire and the sword, with thumbscrews and the boot, and all
+manner of ingenious ferocity.
+
+The officialism of public opinion has always been ready to serve the
+demands of the base nature below. It was the great lawgiver, Lycurgus,
+who taught Spartan youths the commercial economy of theft and the
+virtue and advantage of lying. It was not only when Rome was in decay,
+but when she was at the zenith of glory from the first Brutus to
+Octavius, when Caesar, Cicero, Seneca, Horace, and the Plinys lived at
+the seat of the knowledge, wealth, art and power of the world, that
+women crowded the colosseums to feast their senses upon the ferocity
+of tigers and give the death signal to the gladiator who charmed by
+his fatal skill. It was while Shakespeare lived that English gentlemen
+and mothers apprenticed their sons to the trade of piracy. In our own
+century and country we have seen Abraham Lincoln, the liberator,
+himself, enlist under the flag of official public opinion to strike a
+blow in the extermination of red Indians who had committed the
+unpardonable crime of owning their own land whereon we are assembled
+to-day.
+
+The fashions of lust and cruelty may change with the amusements they
+permit, but officialism promotes all with zeal. At present we laugh at
+Mesmer and study hypnotism; at present we sneer at the incarnations of
+Vishnu and inquire into Theosophy; at present we condemn the
+sacrificial "great custom" of King Prempeh and order our killings by
+twelve men and the sheriff and by elaborate machinery; at present we
+shudder at the sports of Commodus and wait breathlessly upon bulletins
+from Carson City. Those who scouted the fetiches of Dahomey have
+waited on their knees in the Cathedral at Naples for the liquefaction
+of the blood of St. Januarius, or crawled in agony of hope to the
+saving pool at Lourdes. There have been those melted to tenderest
+compassion at the sight of a wounded dog or an overdriven horse, who
+have yet owned human slaves and contended that it was right, even if
+harsh, to sell a mother and her child from one auction block to
+different owners. There have been those so wounded by the shortcomings
+of their neighbors that they have organized white-capped bands of
+virtue to wipe out immorality in the cleansing blood of murder. A man
+may reject the miracle of Jonah and yet see an airship.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Now this is the tribunal that has handed down the judgment that
+novel-reading is a vice. Is it not a most natural, just and honest
+opinion? Could such a tribunal properly pronounce any other? Is it not
+such a judgment in fact as vindicates the integrity of the court,
+while it crowns the culprit with glory? In expressing the idea that
+the reading of novels is only an amusement--to be taken up when there
+is nothing else to do--your average grocer, tailor, lawyer, or what
+not, has but spoken to you the world's judgment. In fact there are
+countless readers of novels who have grown up in this atmosphere of
+conviction that novels are meant only to amuse. They are so habituated
+to the idea that novels, to them, are valueless--mere sentimental
+unrealities or spiced narratives of heated invention--so that they go
+through the treasure houses of genius without ever hearing the
+soft-voiced persuasion of knowledge or seeing the marvelous, vivid
+panorama of human life, illustrating its aspirations, sorrows,
+struggles, triumphs and failures. Such readers, convinced in advance
+that everything in a novel is fictitious, because the personages
+discussed are fictitious in name, never dream that study of the
+conduct of these personages may be useful to influence their own
+manners, conduct, morals or sympathies. Indeed, some of them are so
+confident of the unreality of novels that when they are confronted
+with their own counterparts in fictitious personality they feel a
+certain sense of humiliation as of being convicted of eccentricity, of
+an unlikeness to actual persons, which must be concealed as branding
+them "fit to be put into a novel." To such persons novel-reading is a
+vice, because it is an indolent excitement, a mental opium-eating; the
+useless butting--against an unscalable wall--of brains intended to be
+fully occupied in developing those parts of the nervous and muscular
+systems that find their highest application in vigorous devotion to
+the washboard or the laying of gas pipes down.
+
+What a different result is achieved by the reader who knows the secret
+that imagination is the soul of thought, that taste is the power of
+truth and that the abstractions produced by imagination and taste
+dealing with fact to convert it to fiction, or carefully assembling
+fiction to convert it to fact, have been the stars that have lighted
+up the night of human history. By the light of these in their varying
+forms man discovered Religion, Philosophy, Science, Government and the
+possibility of orderly Liberty. To such a reader the novel comprehends
+all human society, its customs and secrets. The untraveled man may sit
+in his library and become as familiar with the world as with his
+native town; the diffident student may mingle familiarly in the
+society of courts; the bashful girl may learn the most engaging
+manners; the slow may learn the trick of wit; the rich may learn
+sympathy for the poor; the weak may be warned against the pitfalls of
+temptation and every one may there survey himself in every aspect,
+subjected to discussion and exhibition under various disguises and
+under various circumstances; and, if he have courage and the desire,
+he can decide what he thinks of himself and the possibilities of
+improving the opinion in the light of full knowledge of the subject.
+
+The Novel has come as the solvent of all literary art. In its
+possibilities all the essentials of other literary forms are
+combined and conveyed without injury. Professedly not History, it
+performs all its wonders in the guise of History and adds a light and
+a human interest to chronicle that gives increased value. We do not
+get sympathetic and human knowledge of England from History, but from
+Scott, Thackeray and her splendid historical novelists. We do not turn
+to Guizot and Thiers for any knowledge of French history except its
+stated public facts, its documents with royal seals and its verified
+dates and details--it is to Dumas, Merimee, Balzac that all but the
+professional students of history go. We do not seek in the rapid
+sketches of Gibbon for the story of Nero, but in the pages of "Quo
+Vadis." Where do we find the breathing history of Spain except in the
+countless novels that its picturesque subjects have suggested? I would
+scorn to underestimate the profound and substantial value that the
+great muse of History has conferred upon the world. In all literature
+she deservedly ranks first in dignity, power and usefulness; but who
+will say that at her court the Prime Minister is not the Novel, which
+by its lightness, grace and address has popularized history all over
+the world?
+
+While the Novel has none of the guise of poetry, yet it has its every
+essence, neglecting only form and rhyme. In the Novel you may find the
+measure, the accent and the figures of the whole range of poetry, and
+a capacity for inspiring enthusiasm and emulation quite as great as
+poetry unjoined to the divine enchantress, Music.
+
+Plainly not Drama, yet what is more dramatic than the Novel? In the
+miracle of its pages you find theater, scenery, actors, audience and
+author. You may sit at your ease in your library chair and command the
+services of the most innumerable company of comedians, tragedians,
+lovers, ladies, buffoons, soubrettes and pantomimists that the world
+ever knew. How many novels have been turned into dramas, how few
+dramas have been successfully expanded into novels!
+
+Thus the Novel, while it is not History nor Poetry nor the Drama, is a
+combination of all. And it possesses more than this. Its lightness
+enables it to tell the history of the commonest peasant--a subject
+that History disdained until the Novel bent to the task. Its
+flexibility makes it possible to write the history of types and
+classes; its capacity enables it to convey science, to teach morals,
+to illuminate the abstract difficulties of every philosophy, to utter
+the despairing human protests stifled elsewhere, and to embrace every
+purpose for which words were created and human aspirations were
+kindled. That it has lent itself to base uses is true. How could it
+escape the contamination that has smirched every other art? And, as in
+every other art, that which is base and false in fiction soon dies of
+its own inherent weakness and is forgotten. But decade by decade the
+Novel grows more powerful, more noble, and more adaptable to the
+spiritual uses of man. The time will come when the Novel will stand on
+the book-shelves with history, the philosophies and the sciences, as
+of equal honor and use--necessary to complete the education of every
+scholar; yet even then there will probably be a tribunal to pronounce
+it to be, if not a vice, at least of doubtful utility.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's On the Vice of Novel Reading., by Young E. Allison
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE VICE OF NOVEL READING. ***
+
+***** This file should be named 24704.txt or 24704.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/7/0/24704/
+
+Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, David Garcia and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Kentuckiana Digital Library)
+
+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
+will be renamed.
+
+Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
+one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
+(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
+permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
+set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
+copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
+protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
+Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
+charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
+do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
+rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
+such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
+research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
+practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
+subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
+redistribution.
+
+
+
+*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
+
+THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
+PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK
+
+To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
+distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
+(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
+http://gutenberg.org/license).
+
+
+Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic works
+
+1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
+and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
+(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
+the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
+all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
+If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
+terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
+entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
+
+1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
+used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
+agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
+things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
+even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
+paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
+and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.  See paragraph 1.E below.
+
+1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
+or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
+collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
+individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
+located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
+copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
+works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
+are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
+Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
+freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
+this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
+the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
+keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
+Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.
+
+1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
+what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
+a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
+the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
+before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
+creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
+Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
+the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
+States.
+
+1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
+
+1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
+access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
+whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
+phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
+Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
+copied or distributed:
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
+from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
+posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
+and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
+or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
+with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
+work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
+through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
+Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
+1.E.9.
+
+1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
+with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
+must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
+terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
+to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
+permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.
+
+1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
+work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
+
+1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
+electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
+prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
+active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm License.
+
+1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
+compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
+word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
+distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
+"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
+posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
+you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
+copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
+request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
+form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.
+
+1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
+performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
+unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
+
+1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
+access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
+that
+
+- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
+     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
+     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
+     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
+     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
+     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
+     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
+     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
+     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
+     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
+     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
+     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."
+
+- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
+     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
+     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
+     License.  You must require such a user to return or
+     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
+     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
+     Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
+     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
+     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
+     of receipt of the work.
+
+- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
+     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
+
+1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
+electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
+forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
+both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
+Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
+Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
+
+1.F.
+
+1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
+effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
+public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
+collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
+"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
+corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
+property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
+computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
+your equipment.
+
+1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
+of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
+Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
+Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
+liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
+fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
+LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
+PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
+TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
+LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
+INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
+DAMAGE.
+
+1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
+defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
+receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
+written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
+received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
+your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
+the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
+refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
+providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
+receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
+is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
+opportunities to fix the problem.
+
+1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
+in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
+WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
+WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
+
+1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
+warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
+If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
+law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
+interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
+the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
+provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.
+
+1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
+trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
+providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
+with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
+promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
+harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
+that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
+or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
+work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
+Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
+
+
+Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
+electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
+including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
+because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
+people in all walks of life.
+
+Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
+assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
+goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
+remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
+Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
+and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
+To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
+and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
+and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
+
+
+Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
+Foundation
+
+The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
+501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
+state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
+Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
+number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
+http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
+permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.
+
+The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
+Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
+throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
+809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
+business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
+information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
+page at http://pglaf.org
+
+For additional contact information:
+     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
+     Chief Executive and Director
+     gbnewby@pglaf.org
+
+
+Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
+Literary Archive Foundation
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
+spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
+increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
+freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
+array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
+($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
+status with the IRS.
+
+The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
+charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
+States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
+considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
+with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
+where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
+SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
+particular state visit http://pglaf.org
+
+While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
+have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
+against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
+approach us with offers to donate.
+
+International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
+any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
+outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
+
+Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
+methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
+ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
+To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate
+
+
+Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
+works.
+
+Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
+concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
+with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
+Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.
+
+
+Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
+editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
+unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
+keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.
+
+
+Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
+
+     http://www.gutenberg.org
+
+This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
+including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
+Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
+subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.